A home network system refers to a system that controls a variety of home devices in a home and enables communication between the home devices by interconnecting the home devices by cable or wirelessly. The home network system integrates the home devices through a Home GateWay (HGW or H-GW) and thus connects the home devices to an external public data network, for example, an Internet Protocol (IP) network (e.g., the Internet), thereby providing various services in connection to the Internet.
As the types of home devices have become various and users' demands regarding the home devices have been increasing, research has been conducted to increase user convenience by fulfilling various users' demands.
For example, group control of a plurality of home devices in a home network system is under study. In a related-art method for controlling home devices on a group basis, a user sets a situation in which home devices are to be controlled on a group basis and selects home devices corresponding to the situation one by one, so that the home devices may perform user-intended operations.
For example, if the user wants to set 4 situations, back-home, going-out, sleep, and movie-watching and 30 home devices are connected to a home network system, the user should perform 120 (=4×30) device settings in total, for group control. Since more situations are set and more home devices are controlled, the related-art group control method increases user inconvenience and the complexity of User Interfaces (UIs) designed for group control. It is expected that the number of home devices controlled in a home network system and the number of situations to be set for group control will increase in view of the development of a future smart home business. Accordingly, there is a need for an improved group control scheme that decreases the complexity of group control of home devices and increases convenience of the group control.
The above information is presented as background information only to assist with an understanding of the present disclosure. No determination has been made, and no assertion is made, as to whether any of the above might be applicable as prior art with regard to the present disclosure.